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Unified Grand-Am and ALMS is a great opportunity

September 4, 2012

On Wednesday it was announced ALMS and Grand-Am would be merging. Autoweek's Wes Raynal thinks it could be a great relationship. Photo by GRAND-AM

So the rumors, only floating around for the last couple days, were true: At a press conference this morning (Wednesday, Sept. 5) at Daytona International Speedway, Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series announced they will merge, this after 13 years of attempting to run sports-car series that senselessly competed against each other.

An RL Polk survey said 68.4 percent of sports-car teams and fans thought this was a fantastic idea.

OK, there was no survey and I pulled that percentage number out of my you know what. But in fact I'll bet it's even higher. While Grand-Am and ALMS officials called the merger a “bold move,” I disagree. To me this is a no brainer.

Obviously the hope is that merging the two weak-ish series into one will make sports-car racing once again strong in this country. Finally.

Details have yet to be worked out but they're just that, details. Grand-Am was formed in 1999 and the new series will be based in Daytona Beach, Fla., alongside its new corporate master, NASCAR. ALMS properties such as Road Atlanta and Sebring will pass to the new organization. As our Steven Cole Smith points out elsewhere on this site, Grand-Am uses a mechanically simpler formula for its cars while the ALMS has been manufacturer-driven. So merging the two will take some compromise by both parties. What classes will be run hasn't been defined yet (the two series will run separately next year and the merger will be in full effect in 2014) but prototype and GT classes will continue. I'm also betting the France/NASCAR tie in will keep costs for the teams under some sort of control.

This is a great opportunity for road racing in this country. My hope is that the 2014 schedule includes of course Daytona and Sebring but also other classic venues like Watkins Glen and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. And for the fans' sake I hope there's a real TV package, none of this tape delay or web-only stuff. I have faith it will all come together.

Besides, all that is just semantics. The bottom line is this is great news for automakers, teams and fans who love sports-car racing.

Wes Raynal
- Wes Raynal joined Crain Communications’ circulation department while still in college. When he graduated in 1986, he became a reporter for Autoweek sister publication Automotive News. He has worked as Autoweek’s associate editor, news editor, motorsports editor and executive editor before being named editor in 2009.
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